Roofwalkers made an immediate impression on me the second their disc showed up on my desk. Housed in a hand screened case that's colorful and looks super sharp Roofwalkers set me up for something arty and well thought out with their self titled album. Thankfully, that's exactly what their debut album is...arty and well thought out and simply put what's on the inside is just as good as what's on the outside. In fact, Roofwalkers answers the question what would have happened if Ride continued to record Carnival of Light over and over and never broke up.
With an airy feel and a load of jangly pop, Roofwalkers breeze their way through their self-titled debut album almost too quickly. Roofwalkersis a bit dreamy and ethereal and hints at being just a bit twee. These are all good things and in fat, Roofwalkers is really quite good stuff. This is a band that harks back to the early 90's while taking Ride's sound and updating it a bit with hints of psychedelia. "Cut Every Corner," is a fine example of this as it twists and winds it's way through atmospheric riff after atmospheric riff with a fine sense of melody; it's epic stuff. Roofwalkers might be lazy pop that's got it's head in the clouds but it's never so lazy that it loses sight of how important harmonies and tunefulness is. See, "To the Quick," and "Port Of Call," for examples.
Roofwalkers have written one heck of a great debut album. Roofwalkersis a beautiful barely there record that's wispy tunes grab hold of you like a cold wind and chill you to the bone. This is not a bad thing as this chill will give you goosebumps in all the best ways. Ride might not be around but it's nice to know that people still love dreamy freewheeling pop and when it's as good as Roofwalkers it's an absolute joy to discover.
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